The Flock, Erasers, and Sexy Babe
by Demon-Kitty-Chan
Summary: Bird-kid Arc finds an old notebook on the grimy streets she decides to document her experiences. Meeting the Flock is just the icing on the cake. Flames welcome! T for language  New Chapter up as of 12/12
1. Name's Arc

**Ok, I admit I feel kinda dumb starting another story (along with the Bleach and Vampire Knight) especially when school starts soon for meh.. I couldn't help it ^-^'**

Date: Unknown

Why I'm actually taking precious running-er- flying time to write in this book I'm still not quite sure. I guess it's because I want the world to know what evil is really out there, what really happens to lab experiments.

I'm Arc. Fifteen, slim, tall and not willing to take any crap: that pretty much describes me. I'm a bird kid. As in bird DNA + Human baby = human with wings. I'm an experiment. Or at least I was supposed to be. Well, I was until I ran away. When they made me they kind of forgot to keypad 'Obedience' into me. Oops?

I'm currently hulling ass somewhere in the U.S. Since I grew up in a dog crate there wasn't exactly a lot of chances for me to learn geography. Swiping a map from a 7 Eleven without anyone giving me as much as a glance? That's so much more my style.

Jojo just told me I probably shouldn't be highlighting where I-we- are right now. What if this gets stolen? Two things I guess could happen: A drunk guy could rip these pages out and pawn the rest for ten cents OR someone from the Institute could get they're greedy little paws-yes, paws- on this and find us. So no more descriptions of the places. I guess I should describe us though.

First, there's me. As I've said/ written before, I'm tall and lean. I have choppy shoulder length chestnut hair (a fancy way of saying rust color) I don't take any crap from people. As for my bird part, thankfully I (or any of us) don't lay eggs or anything. We don't molt either. Nope, the 2% DNA that we got stuck with zapped wings onto our backs. The thing is, we're not sure what they're modeled after. Mine are about fourteen-ft. and are a soft gray with a dark burst of black on the primaries. Even though none of us really know our ages I guess I'm about fifteen. End of story.

I guess Shi would be the best one to describe next. Hm, how should I put this? Shi's like the glue that sticks the four of us together. Shi's calm, can kick ass when he needs too, and is a great negotiator. He's got to be part dove or something, eggshell white wings through and through; plus a soft temper to match. Shi has dirty blond hair and is just as tall and skinny as me. I think he's about fifteen too, but that's a big shot. Even though he's the only boy he takes our ranting with a smile and doesn't seem to mind that much. Without his plans of the routs we should take there's no way we would still be free, more like in a lab somewhere doing jumping jacks until we pass out or die. They'd love to see the later.

I mentioned Jojo before, right? Well, Jojo's the explosive wise crack of us. She absolutely the worst cook of us all (I, on the other hand, can make a pretty mean omelet) With her pixie cut red hair she stays true to the widespread belief that red heads have a hot temper. Maybe her personality has something to do with her fiery red wings. Just like mine, they have a black tone underneath but it seems to burst out of the feathery pattern. Even though she acts a lot older, Jojo has to be around thirteen. The way our life has been going down the pipes, it's grow up fast or die painfully.

The last person that I cannot forget to mention in Lese. She's the youngest, about eleven, and the quietest of us all. Since the day we met, I don't think I've heard her say more than ten words. Lese has soft brown hair that drifts around her shoulders and is pretty tall for her age. I think. It's impossible to pin down a personality of a person who never speaks. The thing is, Jojo sticks up for Lese like nothing I've ever seen before. Whenever the lab sends out cronies to catch us, Jojo is always defending the girl. I'm not sure I've ever seen Lese land a punch. I don't think she's ever had to.

So there's my little family. Oops. I guess I better stop for tonight, Lese can't sleep and Jojo's passed out under a pine tree. Lese likes it when I rub between her wings, it usually knocks her right out. I better go do that than zone out myself. Last time I didn't get enough sleep I nearly flew into a windmill.

**Comment! Flames welcome and shall be used for roasting marshmallows! Next chappie will be longer!**


	2. Bustin' Out

**Okyas, I didn't get a lot of reviews for the first chappie (one to be exact T.T) but whatever ^-^Thanks Ciel-chan!  
**

Date: unknown

So here I am, still scribbling down words in a crappy notebook I bought at the dollar tree a state or two ago. I guess I should be somewhat proud. In my entire life I've never really gotten around to finishing anything. Of course, there were the good reasons. Great ones actually. I never finished my blog, (the Institute was tracking us through it), my plans for getting us an apartment went down the drain (the Institute has their people everywhere you can imagine and places you don't want to, and even my goal of moving to Finland bombed (the Institute freakin' loves to bother us). Anyway, today was pretty routine. Get up, make sure no one was nabbed in the middle of the night (previous experience with which sucked immensely), and try and find breakfast. Now, this is a hell of a lot harder than it sounds. After weeks, even months, (who am I kidding? YEARS) of moving from place to place it's not like we're in the best shape. People do tend to get a bit suspicious when four ragged kids walk into their store and try on a bunch of clothes than leave without buying anything. They have really, really good reasons. (only twice, a freakin' freezing December somewhere west and right after an attack when our clothes were practically in shreds, they didn't even see us come or leave) It defiantly isn't my intention to steal my way through life but what else are we supposed to do? It's not like we have bank accounts or can get jobs.

Once again, Jojo just made a point of telling me that if I plan on sending this to people who I think can help us; I should do more writing of the Institutes evils than ranting for my own needs. Admitting that we've stolen is a huge no-no. Well, fine than. Have it your way.

I guess I should explain what I wrote earlier when I said that we had woken up and one of us was MIA. It was a little over a year ago that we had gone to sleep in some pine trees and when we opened our eyes- VOLA! Shi was gone. This isn't exactly the most alarming thing ever though. Sometimes if any of us can't sleep or just don't feel like it we take a flying leap off a cliff. (literally) It's actually quite calming and by the time we're back the uneven ground practically begs us to lie down. So, of course, I though Shi had done this. Since he wasn't passed out under a tree or nearby it was a little weird but there was always the possibility that he had gotten up before any of us and had thought he had enough time to take a quick look around. (we had landed in the dark and without our amazing night vision would have flown into the side of a nearby warehouse) The thing was, he didn't come back. I've never been so glad that I'm impatient and don't wait. If we had waited there would only be feathers and bones left. The people **cough cough** the Institute **cough cough **who had taken him weren't really careful about not leaving a trail. It was easier to follow than Hassle and Gretel's bread crumbs (before the birds or whatever ate them) Surprisingly, they led to the very factory we had almost flown into the night before. Since sneaking is Jojo's area of expertise, I let her handle finding us a way in, past the cameras. It took her a record-breaking seven minutes- and us a record breaking ten to get 'caught'…

"I hate cages." As soon as we had been 'caught' they had quickly tired us up and thrown us into small dog crates because, as everybody knows, we're among the most dangerous species on earth. (that was sarcasm if you didn't recognize it)

"Me too," I agreed with Jojo one-hundred and ten percent, but if we were going to break Shi out we had to break in. And what better way was there to get into the inner sanctum of an evil liar than getting yourself caught? I do have to admit, it wasn't the smartest plan I've ever come up with but it was all last minute and I was doing things sleep deprived. If we were going to bust him outta' there it would just be easier attacking from the inside.

"Jojo?" I asked her but I could already heard her inserting picks into the lock of her cage (locks? Really? How prehistoric of those silly mad men!) It took her about two minutes before I heard the faint click of the catch. Quietly she worked the lock off the door and laid it on the ground, that's my girl! Her silhouette could barley be made out against the meager light that made it's way under the one door. Still as quiet as a mouse she began to work on my cage. Trying to calm myself, I looked around the small room. There were about nine cages total, two of them stacked on top of one another. There were no windows and one door. These people were slowly learning that a jump out of a glass window wouldn't impale any of us.

"Got it," she whispered and I could hear pride in her voice, she must have made another personal record or something.

"Get Lese," I ordered and crawled out of the cramped space scowling. For all the funding these creeps got, do you think that they could at least invest in some bigger spaces? No, we all got stuffed into the same brand of metal dog crates, medium size if we were lucky. Lese wasn't. She came out of the confined space timidly looking around. I watched Jojo help her stand up and rubbed my own aching knees. I stretched and headed for the door signaling for the two of them to follow me. They didn't.

I spun on the heel of my, um, 'borrowed' army boots hissing, "Come on guys! Shi's probably wondering where the hell we are!"

"Arc," Jojo said quietly, "come here." She was squatting in front of the other cages and I felt a mix of pride and irritation wash over me, if there were kids in those cages there was no way I could persuade her to leave. It was an integrity thing.

I clomped over to where her and Lese were and looked into the first cage, a medium. Inside lay a kid that couldn't have been more then ten. He had dirty blood hair and patches of dirt and blood we splattered on his face. Even we weren't in that bad a shape. I assumed that he and the others had been brought in while we were still in pretty pretty dreamland, we would have heard them otherwise. "Jojo," I nodded sharply and she got started on his lock.

"God," I said disgusted standing up to look in the one above his, "these guys must have gotten shot up with enough to knock out an elephant or somethin', Jojo." I held out my hand and she pulled out another pick (they had obviously searched us but she had her ways) and I started on the crate above the incredibly dirty kid's.

The girl hadn't been as lucky as the boy because she had gotten shoved into a small. They had propped her up against the side and her blond ringlets fell over her shoulders and through the bars. Dirt covered her face and a raw bruise was just beginning to heal on her wrist. I opened the lock a minute after Jojo started on another crate and sucked in my breath when I began to gently pull her out. On her back were a pair of angel white wings. Granted they were covered in mud and dust but when they were clean I bet my life that they were exactly like Shi's (and that's not something I do every day).

Carefully I put her on the ground and went onto the next crate. By the time Jojo and me were done, six bodies took up most of the space in the room. Three girls and three boys. I handed Jojo back the pick and put my hands on my hips, trying to decide what to do. Lese sat Indian style on the floor next to a boy with strawberry blond hair and touched his arm gentle. For a moment nothing happened but within seconds he shot up, as if woken from a dream or something. Lese jumped back with a little squeal. He simple sat there and as the seconds ticked by I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, "Um, hi?"

"Who are you?" His voice didn't waver and I have to admit that it impressed me a bit. If that had happened to me, God only knows what would have come out of my mouth.

"I'm Arc," I crossed my arms, "listen, um, I-" what should I say?

"We found you in the crate and decided to help." Jojo spoke up for me, that girl is never at a lose for words, "Lese can wake the rest of your friends up then we're gone. You're welcome."

Did he say thank you? I shot her a look but she ignored me and focused on the boy. "Okay then," he stretched, "I'm Iggy. Could you, um, wake her up first?" he pointed to his left.

"That's a boy," I said unsure about how stable this guy was.

I could have sworn he blushed in the faint light, "Um, I mean the blond girl, Tall." He clarified for Lese.

Lese nodded shyly and stepped over the first boy we had seen to a girl with choppy blond hair dressed in blood smeared clothes. Her nose seemed broken, though the bleeding had stopped, and I noticed tan feathers peaking out from her back. Slowly Lese reached out but before she could touch the un-conscious girl, the girl woke up by herself.

"Wha-" she began when she saw Lese with her hand still outstretched. "Who are you? Where's Fang?" she looked around and seemed to calm down when she saw Iggy sitting up, obliviously unharmed. "Iggy," she snapped and he turned towards her, "Who are these people?"

I rolled my eyes, "'These people' are still in the room and can hear you. 'These people' saved your sorry-"

Jojo shot me a poisonous look then turned her gaze on the snappy blond, "If you'd rather get back to your little nap then go right ahead. We're outta here." She spun and began to walk away, not glancing back. Who had put a cactus up her butt?

I smirked, oh well, can't say we didn't try to help, "Come on Lese." The ever silent girl followed us without so much as a peep.

As we headed out I could practically hear the wheels turning the older girl's head as her friend told her what he knew so far about us. "Wait." She said after a few seconds and I stopped, smiling knowingly.

"Yes?" My voice came out somewhat tauntingly sweet and it was her turn to send me a venomous look. She wasn't enjoying this nearly as much as I was.

"Can-" she sighed, "can you wake the rest of them up?" she gestured to the rest of the knocked out bird kids. The dirty blond boy was grimacing in his sleep and the dark colored girl looked like she was having a nightmare. For a moment I looked at her intently trying to figure out of she was serious, there was no way this girl was used to asking for help from strangers. Finally (after I creeped her out a sufficient amount) I nodded at Lese who walked back over to the dark haired boy. When she knelt next to him it was ever slower then before. The girl and Iggy must have scared her quite a bit.

Before putting a hand on his arm she looked over at me and Jojo (who had magically decided to come back), I nodded encouragingly.

The girl didn't look away from where Lese was but directed her question to me, "Who are you?"

"Arc," I replied simple my gaze also fixed on Lese. Turning to the girl I crossed my arms and tried to look irritated. "And who exactly are _you_?"

"Maximum Ride," the girl grinned looking at me for a moment, "but if we get out of this hell hole alive you can call me Max."

I smirked, "You've got you're self a deal- Maximum Ride."

***Nervous* Sorry about the horrendously long chappie, I was on a roll ^_^' Review! Flames will be used to burn down the school!**


	3. Outta There

**All of you waiting can blame Angel-Rider for this chappie! (I owed her something for reading my whole friggin profile). Enjoy and review!**

Date: Unknown

_(I decided to split the flashback or whatever you call it in different parts, if I stayed up any later writing there's no way I would be able to stay awake today). _

Lese hid behind Jojo as well as she could while Max (haha, didn't call ya Maximum Ride) gathered her friends (or flock as I heard her say, weird I know). Hands on hips I kept glancing over at the door, there was an early feel that made me think it would burst inward any moment and we'd all be back in dog crates- or worse. "You guys ditching or not?" I called impatiently, but not too loud.

Max nodded, a grim determination plastered onto her mud-smeared face. "Let's go." Her 'flock' followed her as she headed towards the door. Gazzy (or Gasman, reason still unknown but suspicion on why rising), the first boy we had seen, looked tired but determined to keep up with the older kids. The white winged girl who had reminded me so much of Shi (I learned her name was really Angel, cliché huh?) kept close to the dark skinned girl, Nudge. Max matched my pace as we peaked around the corner and slowly made our way down the hall, looking through the small windows on the heavily locked doors.

Iggy and Fang, a dark hair boy who didn't say much, followed her closely. Jojo came up next to while I was glancing into an empty, windowless lab room. "He's blind." She mouthed to me as I turned to face her. For a moment I was confused then snuck a peek back at Iggy who was brushing his fingers against the wall. Now that I noticed, Fang would say something quietly to him every one and a while. Hm, interesting.

"Got a problem?" Max asked, eyes shooting sparks as she noticed my line of sight. I shrugged, not replying, and kept waking. So she liked Fang, I wonder if the rest of her 'flock' knew…

The next room we looked into made me catch my breath. Shi. I signaled for everyone to stop, they did so without a moment hesitation. My eyes darted around the small, yet again windowless room; the science creeps could be anywhere. Yea, I know that that sounds a bit paranoid but you didn't grow up in a medium sized cage having crazy people stick needles in you just to see what happened. No reply? Thought so.

"I'm going in, Jojo," I motioned for her to start on the door. The lock was a lot less middle ages then the others and had a complicated tech code pad. Jojo's eyebrows shot up when she saw it, fringes of worry began to sneak into her eyes but she shoved them away. Bravely, he hands hovered above the pad, unsure what to do. One wrong move and the whole place may be put on lock down; maybe the room would burst into flames. Either way, Shi would probably never get out alive. If the 'scientists' didn't kill me, karma would.

"Let me try," Nudge pushed herself next to Jojo and looked at the girl for her approval. Jojo shrugged, stepping aside. Determined, Nudge began to type away on the letters and numbers that made no sense to me; it was a bunch of gibberish. I glanced unsure over at Jojo but the red winged girl was simple nodding like everything was making perfect sense. Tech geeks. "There," Nudge breathed as the door opened with a soft click. Max smiled proudly.

Nothing burst into flames and when I ran into the room (stupidly not checking for wires) the door didn't slam shut and all oxygen get sucked out. Safe. I turned back, flashing Nudge one of my thankful smiles I seldom used. She beamed; Jojo crossed her arms. "Come on ya big lug." I muttered un-strapping Shi from the steel operation table. Horrible childhood memories raced back to me, dumb antiseptic smell. "Let's get you outta here."

Since I'm a bit stronger then the average fifteen year old (not to brag or anything), carrying Shi back wasn't that problematic. As soon as I crossed the door threshold Lese touched his arms and Shi's eyelids fluttered, "Arc?"

"Yea you big dummy. You really should keep better company."

He smirked, "Let's get the heck out of here."

"I couldn't agree more. Can you stand?" He nodded and stood on slightly trembling legs. "Fly?" A confident nod was all I need. "Move out!" This time as we went through the halls there was no need to be quiet, we stormed from room to room like a heard of fleeing gazelle. Fast, dangerous, and willing to trample anything that was stupid enough to try and stop us.

"Got one!" Gazzy called up ahead; he had found a room with a window. We all raced for the door and he had to step to the side as we all barreled into the room. There was a window, true, but I think he overestimated how small a space we could squeeze through.

"Crap," All of us said at the same time (actually I said something else but I don't think we need to get into that right now).

"Angel," Max said without hesitating, "You, Gazzy, Lese, Nudge, and-" she glanced at Jojo, trying to estimate if she could make it, "Jojo. Climb out, fly around, see if there are any bigger places."

Lese and Jojo looked to me unsure but I nodded, "Go on. Be careful though, if you get shot I will be _so_ pissed."

Jojo managed a small smirk, "Let's blow this Popsicle stand."

"Blow?" Gazzy and Iggy said in unison, then looked at each other (actually Iggy looked a little too far left but you get the point).

"Shall we my friend?" Gazzy asked in mock old English grinning ear to ear, I'd never thought he could look so excited.

"I suppose we must." Iggy replied and pulled something out of his pocked that looked like a detonator. I gaped at him and turned to Gazzy, who had pulled out a stick of, wait, -dynamite? What was he doing with dynamite? Forget that, where did he even get a stick of dynamite?

"What are you guys doing?" I asked slowly backing away from them. Max, Fang, Nudge, and Angel were already a safe distance away, all of them smiling. Except Max. She looked like she would like to light the stick herself and shove it down their throats.

"It's okay," Angel piped up looking at me with her big blue eyes. "They know how to do this without incident." She frowned slightly, "I think… Gazzy, is this the ne-"

The Gasman turned to her grinning deviously, "What makes you think that?" at the same time Iggy yelled, "DUCK!" We all threw ourselves to the ground as the stick of dynamite went off, creating plumes of cement dust and an explosion that was impossible not to hear. Suddenly, defining alarms started to go off all over the building.

"Let's go," rasped Max, her voice altered by the dust. I coughed and grabbed Shi's hand who clasped onto Jojo's who Lese was holding onto for dear life. Poor kid. After all this trauma she was going through today I owed her, like, an ice cream or something.

"_Now _let's blow this Popsicle stand." Jojo corrected smiling as she saw the gaping hole in the once solid wall. One by one, we jumped into the cooling night air, the only sound being the down strokes of our wings and the shrieking alarm.

"Where you headed _Max_?" I asked flying as close to her as our combined wingspans would allow. Her brown wings stroked confidently and she looked relaxed.

Max grinned, "Anywhere but here." I nodded, couldn't have said it better myself.

And so, dear people who are maybe reading this and probably thinking I'm crazier then Van Goh, that's how we met Max and the gang. Currently, we're all lounging around in giant Red Woods thinking about where we should go next. The 'flock' was supposed to split this morning but Iggy somehow talked them into hanging with us a little longer. Ugh, my hand's cramping up from all this writing, as slopping as my penmanship may be.

**What do ya think? Please comment! Flames always welcome!**


	4. Now What?

**Sorry this is a bit shorter then most of the chappies…now deal with it**

**:3**

Date: Unknown

"Where'd you get the clothes?" I asked after Shi came back with Nudge, both we carrying bags of clothes.

He shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, "Salvation Army. They weren't in the back yet, no one had even sorted through." I nodded; good, no one would notice they were missing.

Nudge out her bags on the ground, ripped the plastic and handed Angel a pink top with sparkly, fake rhinestones on it. As she held it up excitedly, I saw that once upon a time they might have made a picture. May a cartoon dog or a-

"Here ya go," Shi shoved a pair of army colored cargo's, a shirt, and white socks into my arms. "I had to guess what size," he smiled and began to dig through the bag again.

Hm, I wonder- I flipped up the tags and saw he had picked medium and size three. At least it wasn't like last time where Jojo picked out a xxLarge baseball jersey with too tight jeans. I shrugged and went to change behind some foliage. A few moments later I felt my cheeks turn a shade between red and pink, "You jerk!" (provided we had company I didn't let lose my usual string of- colorful words).

"Just put them on and stop complaining!" He called, trying not to laugh. Traitor. "They can't be that bad."

I stepped into the open, arms folded, face burning. Across the front of my T-shirt in a strategically placed spot it was declared I was a 'Sexy Babe'. "You." I growled and glared, hoping I had gained the sudden power to duct tape people mouths shut (more on that later).

"What?" he managed to choke out, laughing hysterically. Jojo had her hand clamped over her mouth trying to hold back the giggles and Lese was smiling for the first time in ages.

I swiveled to face Max and her crew, "Any of you think that this is funny?" My glare was lost as they bust into laughter. Nudge looked slightly ashamed that she let Shi get away with picking the shirt but I smiled slightly, letting her know that I wasn't a grudge holder. Not for trivial things such as T-shirt says, that is.

Iggy looked confused and slightly annoyed, "What's so funny?" Gazzy, between snickers, told him and he shook his head. "Immature," he muttered but a small smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Max came over and put a hand on my shoulder, "You get this often?" She was dressed in cargo's similar to mine only her shirt was plane green.

I nodded, feeling she could relate, "You have no idea."

I guess I better explain the whole duct tape thing. Jojo says that I'm messing things up by not putting them in the correct order but if she wants to have everything laid out 'correctly' then she can go and find a notebook to write in. Sorry, momentary off-the-trackness, back to duct tape. I guess you could say we had 'powers', but we prefer to call them 'skills' (which is just another way of saying that we can do some freaky things). I'm not going to tell you what we can do (if you had thought I would then you are one of the more naïve people in the world. Scram! You shouldn't be reading this), so you're going to have to tough it out. Not knowing is better… Huh, what the heck am I saying? Not knowing is hell can get you killed. Of course, in this instance, it could get us killed so it's way better for both of us if you don't know. Plus, you'll live longer that way.

Date: two days after meeting flock

There ya go! I've finally figured out how to 'date' when I write and Jojo is considerably happier. That kid has got to have OCD or ADD or whatever it's called when things have to be in order or else you go nuts… Angel just filled me in, it's OCD.

Basically, after arguing, er, deciding where to go next we're headed to Arizona, to re-group and plan from there. It's weird because it seems like they have some personal obsession with that place; whether it's because of the scenery or the fact their safe house might be there, I'm going to find out.

**Ok, so that was a lot shorter then the other chappies... Oh well! ^-^ The origin of the 'Sexy Babe' has been reviled! Review! Flames welcome!**


	5. Whatever It May Be

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while!**

Date: four days after meeting flock

We're camping out somewhere in Texas tonight (shut up Jojo, it's not like I told them our coordinates in detail) and I do have to say, the flock has pretty weird ways of survival.

Dumpster diving is something we've all done although not something I recommend if you don't absolutely have to. Some of the best restaurants in the world have the nastiest garbage's and if the customers could see where all their left over stuff went-well, they'd probably never eat there again. For us we nominate one person to go in the stuff, get out whatever's left and still edible, and then chow down (usually the unlucky stinker's Shi). The flock, on the other wing, all join in the fun. Every bird kid to them self I guess.

Another bizarre thing they don't do (out of personal integrity maybe?) it steal hotel rooms for the night. I don't mean steal as in cheat someone out of their paid for room, I mean take over a room that's empty. Like borrowing only we don't take anything (hand sanitizer is the only exception. Ever.). Well, tonight we're all camping around in various trees all over a park 'cause of this and I just wanna say, the Ritz has got nothing on these branches.

I don't have to use the lighter I, um, found the other days because the lights from the city are so freaking bright. Music is still blasting from a concert somewhere farther down and I can still hear non-stop cars in the streets. Who says that there's only one city that never sleeps?

Later

I can't sleep so I guess I should write. I still don't have to use the lighter, man o' man does Texas know how to have a good time.

'Wasn't the escape too easy?' you might ask. If you have ever dwelled on that question I sincerely congratulate you. Good job, now here's a cookie. Stop reading, invest your time in something more worth while then this book, and get a life. Go live. Not going away, eh? Good. That means what I've been writing about –evil scientists, kids as lab experiments, &etc- are apparently not that far from your reality. It means that you're taking me seriously. Wonderful.

Since the escape from the Institute (or the School as the Flock calls it) was way too easy and less bloody than the fruity nut cases would like it to have been, we're all on top guard. Since there are more then just the four of us now, the nightly watches have been taken down to one hour but two people; one from my 'flock' and one from Max's. The tiring thing it, neither one of us trust the other person enough to let both people be from the same group. Lese offered to go on duty so we could rotate out less frequently (not aloud of course, just tugging on my arm and motioning 'till I got the gist of it). When I told her no she looked like she knew the exact reason why.

Max and Shi are on their shift now and in about five it's me and Fang's turn. The guy hardly talks so I'm going to have to try to keep myself from slipping into 'nighty night' land the old fashion way: do my job with the enthusiasm of a newbie.

Date: five days after meeting flock

We're currently camped right outside Arizona, in a McDonalds to be exact. Max said that we have about one more hour of flying before we get to The Place. She won't give us any more information other than telling us it's a 'Safe house, of sorts'. Safe house, to us, could means anything. Barn, truck stop, hotel, suburban housing, or cellar, just to scrape the top. It's driving me crazy. I know that my life isn't made of certainty of where I'm going to be that day or the next or the week after but promises haven't really made it for me either. (If you promise a kid you won't hurt them then go and stick a needle the size of a dry spaghetti string into their stomach, they will remember that. Forever.)

Now Jojo's glaring at me for wasting time writing in this book. It's my time to order.

Let me just say this Max, if you betray us, I will come back and haunt you until your dying day.

**Review! Flames welcome!**


	6. What If?

**I'm so uberly sorry I haven't posted anything in eons. I just started freshman year of high school and they're weighing me down with a crap load o' work. Enjoy!**

Eight days after meeting Flock:

I have so much to write and, the best thing in the entire world, enough time to write it in. Unless, of course, an eraser busts thorough the bedroom door and I have to kick his ass. Other than that, I have all the time I need. This is as close to normal as I'll ever get.

So, three days ago we got to the place where Max wanted us to go to and, not sure if I should say this but, it was her moms house. Her MOMS house. Notice anything weird? Hm? Anything? Her MOMS house. She knows who her mom is, hell, I bet she knows who her dad is too.

You see, we don't exactly know who are 'rents are. There are no fond memories of 'mommy' taking us to the park or 'daddy' buying us an ice cream on the sly. It was just crazy scientists pricking us with needles and seeing if we would die. So, (as you've hopefully guessed) her knowing who her parents are, is a pretty big thing.

Her mom's name is Dr. Martinez and the kindest person I have ever met (considering the adults I've known that a pretty big thing). Max has no clue how lucky she is. Well, er, maybe I shouldn't say that. She probably does know. I mean, she grew up just like us (or at least that's what I think) and must, in some way, know how the other kids feel. Personally, I don't give a flip if I ever find my 'rents; my 'flock' is my family now. But Lese and Jojo, maybe even Shi… The other night (after a non-dumpster dived dinner with real mashed potatoes and a dessert that didn't involve stale hard candy) I kinda heard them. If Jojo ever knew that I was watching she would kill me.

Jojo rolled onto her side and looked at Lese. The small girl was sitting upright, her knees up to her chin. Light brown hair flopped over her eyes, making it hard for the older girl to see the younger ones expression. She did, however, not miss the subtle shaking of the fragile shoulders.

"Lese?" Jojo reaches out tentatively and put a reassuring hand on the sobbing girl's back. "It's ok," she drew herself up into a sitting position and scooted closer. "It's ok,"

Lese shook her head making her hair wave, "No,"

The one, simple word caused Jojo to smile. "It will be. Don't you like Max's mom?" The little girl nodded. "Don't you like it here?" Another nod but this time Lese looked up with eyes still drawing tears. Jojo tried to smile. "Than what's wrong?"

"M-" Lese squeaked out before the silent stream began again. Jojo hugged Lese close, "Don't worry. It'll be fine. Someday Arc will find our parents, just like Max is trying to do for her friends, and we'll all be together. And we'll be happy. And no one will be able to come after us." By this time her voice was choking up more with each word and I felt like I was an outsider, watching strangers.

Jojo never cried. Not when They broke her arm, let it go, and had to break it again only to set it- all without novocaine; not when she fell out of a giant red wood and didn't have enough room to fly out, she had broken her arm in the same place as before and we had had to set it again. But she cried then.

You see what I mean? This whole visiting Max's mom may seem great but I can't stand how it makes Jojo and Lese break down like that. And scarier? What if I'm not able to live up to the great spot Jojo has put me on in Lese's vision? 'Arc: restorer of families and destroyer of Evil scientists'. What if I never find their families?

**Did that long and story progressive chapter win me back into your good graces? :) Review! Flames always welcome!**


	7. IMPORTANT

**IMPORTANT!**

**I didn't want to do this but it's time, author note time.**

**First of all I must send many apologies for not updating in forever but I do have a good excuse. School. High school to be exact. I've had a ton of work dumped on me and was sick for a while. Plus I haven't been on this computer (where the files are held) for a long time. **

**So, I'm sorry.**

**I also have a MAJOR case of writers block so I need to ask for suggestions (that is if anyone is still paying attention to this). **

**ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. If I chose to use it than you'll, obviously, be given credit. **

**So once again sorry for the MAJOR set back and I hope that I haven't lost all of my readers!**


	8. Safe House?

**HERE'S A CHAPTER! Sorry for the delay! Review! Flames welcome!**

Ten Days after Meeting Flock:

Safe house, yeah right. How come I knew this would happen? Why can't They just leave us alone for a little while? We're just kids.

Perhaps I should explain; God knows that I need something to do other than pace, worry, and steam.

We were all just lounging around the living room, exactly like a normal, avian-American family. Gazzy and Iggy were tinkering with the TV and trying to make it reach the 900 channels; Jojo stood behind them, critiquing their moves every now and then. Lese sat with Angel and Nudge poring over magazines. She looked at me every once and a while as if checking in, making sure that she was doing the correct thing. I smiled encouragingly. Beside me, Shi was watching what was going on. His eyes bright and little to no traces of black circle were under them. Fang sat with us silently taking everything in. I know I haven't known him very long but I could tell he was (somewhat) less tense than usual. Max stood like an overseeing shadow in the door way and it was obvious how calm she was. A smile lit up her normally serious face. Turns out that her hair really does have different colored high lights and it wasn't just grime and dirt. Hm, who knew?

"Just connect the red one to that box." Jojo instructed them, "No, Iggy, not you. Gazzy! No! Not the-" I heard a small zap and Gazzy mumble a quiet apology. Jojo groaned and lolled her head back, looking at the ceiling as if waiting for help. A moment later she let out a small laugh and turned back to the boys. "I'll go over it again, this time listen please?" They both nodded.

Max sighed, "So there are more like Gazzy and Iggy, joy." Under her slightly miffed demeanor I could tell that she was happy.

I cleared my throat; better say what I was thinking while we were all together. "So, not to be a downer or anything, but I've been thinking."

Jojo looked up immediately, "This ought to be interesting." she muttered.

I took a deep breathing. This wasn't going to be an easy point to sell. "I want to get going soon." As the words left my mouth I was met by Lese's emotionless gaze, Shi's silent agreeing nod, and Jojo's dark glare. I wasn't surprised by their predicted reaction but when the only verbal response came from Max's flock I lifted my eyebrows.

"What!" Nudge and Gazzy exclaimed at the same time that Iggy's face fell. Fang didn't say anything and Max just watched them.

"Sorry," I said, "but we probably should get going. I mean, we can't stay forever." My voice slowly faded as I suddenly changed my mind. Maybe it was ok to stay. I mean, this way a safe house…

"Angel!" Max snapped angrily. I seemed to walk out of a fog and saw that the older girl was harshly glaring at the younger.

Angel blinked her big blue eyes innocently, "What did I do?"

"You know."

"I do?"

"Angel, stop that this-" Max paused, frowning slightly.

"Arc!" Lese cried suddenly. She sprang up and started to dash towards me. "Down!"

Now, I'm not sure what first comes to your mind when you see a little girl running at you, top speed, shouting 'down'. Especially when that little girl usually never talks. Especially when that little girl has more fear in her voice than you have ever heard. And especially when that little girl is Lese. In that slit second after she called out to me and I saw her dive to the floor, I grabbed Fang's arm and yanked him to the carpet with me; Shi had gone done on his own instincts. Max must have caught on when Lese went down because she tucked and rolled. Nudge and Angel were immediately flat on the floor. Just as Jojo shoved Gazzy and Iggy down, gun shots rang out. Plaster, glass, and bullets flew.

"What the hell are they doing to my mom's house?" Max shouted from her position. She sounded tough but I could tell that a thick layer of panic hid under her words.

Quickly, I re-capped where everyone was. Ella and Mrs. Martinez were at the store getting more cookie dough (we had kinda depleted her store) so I hopped they were safe. The flock and my gang- well, I think they were smart enough to get down in time. More bullets flew but stopped just as soon as they had started.

Max was the first to gingerly life her head and look around. The air held floating crumbs of the splintered plaster and glass littered the floor. "Is everyone ok?" she asked. Her question was followed by coughing and a chorus of Okays.

I lifted my head, shaking dust from my hair. "Lese! Jojo! Shi!"

"Here!" Jojo called out somewhere to my left. She was coughing but I could tell that she wasn't injured.

"I'm fine." Shi said as he tried to blink away some of the dust.

A tap on my hand assured me that Lese had somehow managed to crawl over to me and was doing okay.

Then, all hell broke loose.

The door smashed open and feet marched into the beat up house.

"Grab and go!" Snarled a tough, unforgiving voice.

Erasers.

"Shit," I muttered and let go of Fang (who I had nearly forgotten about) and Shi. As I faced the hybrids I noticed that Max was already standing and looking quite angry.

"No one," she spat, "ruins my mom's house and gets away with it." With that she leapt and attacked.


End file.
